Florence wins silver after coming from fourth place in slalom canoeing final

Minds do not come any more meticulous than that of Britain's canoeing single C1 silver medallist David Florence.

The Scot, who has been learning Mandarin for the past 18 months ahead of his Beijing adventure, recently applied to become an astronaut for the European Space Agency when four places were made available.

On the application form one of the questions asked if he was fluent in Russian. 'I'd better not say: "No,"' he told his parents, 'so I'll have to go and learn it.' The mathematical physics graduate promptly bought a teach yourself Russian course and began studying until a letter arrived last month to say that he hadn't been successful.

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Silver success: David Florence paddles the whitewater slalom course

Attention to detail paid off in Beijing as Florence moved from fourth place after his semi-final to claim silver over a white water ride with a current so vicious it was described by gold medallist Michal Martikan of Slovakia as 'the most difficult course in the world.'

Martikan conquered it with ridiculous ease and won a second gold in the discipline 12 years after his first, in Atlanta. Oh, and he won silver in both 2000 and 2004. The man can canoe.

Florence, meanwhile, overhauled Stanislav Jezek and Krzysztof Bieryt - third and second, respectively, after the semi-final - and for a few moments allowed himself to dream of gold before Martikan, canoeing last, snatched it away.

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'I would like it to be the gold but to say I'm disappointed right now doesn't sum up my emotions. I'm not at all. I'm absolutely delighted. A medal's really what I've been looking for in the last four years,' said a breathless Florence.

'I put down a good second run at the most exciting time you'll ever have to do it - and arguably the hardest. It was a bit nerve-wracking watching the final three come down but I knew it was a good run and I just hoped it would be better than they would manage. It was twice, but not in Martikan's case. Well done to him.

'It wasn't a whim to apply to be an astronaut. It was an opportunity that came along to apply to do something absolutely incredible. I didn't get in, but maybe I can look into the Chinese space programme in the next week while I'm here.

'No, really, this was always the main focus. A silver medal is just a fantastic result for 11 years of hard work. It's a challenging skill that you've got one opportunity to perform and no opportunity to make any mistakes. To be happy with everything you're doing is critical.'

Silver salute: David Florence celebrates with his silver medal

Proof that Florence's talents aren't restricted to paddling and languages is that he also plays the bagpipes. His silver makes it three successive Olympiads in which Britain has won a silver medal in slalom canoeing - after Paul Ratcliffe in Sydney and Campbell Walsh four years ago in Athens, both in the Kayak K1 class.

European champion Walsh, another Scot, is Florence's room-mate in Beijing, but endured a disastrous run in his semi-final when he failed to find any rhythm whatsoever and finished last of the 15-strong field.

He said: 'I feel frustrated because these opportunities don't come around very often, but I feel lucky enough to have got an Olympic medal already. Not many people have done that. What happened to me today happened to plenty of other people, too. It happens a lot in our sport.'

For both Florence and Walsh, the allure of an Olympic Games at home is drawing them towards competing until 2012. Walsh is 30, while Florence celebrated his 26th birthday last Friday with a guest list of 90,000 at the Opening Ceremony.

Between semi-final and final, he chatted over his performance with his father George, himself a former Scottish canoeing champion but who hid that fact from his son until David was almost 15.

Florence junior said: 'I had a chat with my dad between runs. He's very good at supporting me through all this and knows what it's all about. He just said that my first run was OK, that it wasn't my best, but that I had a lot to build on and that I could do it.

'I've been watching the other British performances. I watched the swimming gold medal from Rebecca Adlington and, goodness me, that was incredibly exciting. Me and Campbell were screaming as she touched the line first and took the gold. That was really good to watch.'

So was Florence's charge, although up in the stands, mum Jill was just as happy that Britain's newest Olympic medallist will be keeping his feet on the ground rather than floating up to space.

She admitted: 'I know David was disappointed when his application to become an astronaut was rejected, but I wasn't. I was quite worried about that.'